The Chairman of
the branch is Ian Mather-Brewster whom many of you will know as the Groundsman
at Middleton CC as well as a lecturer for the IOG and as a regional Pitch
Advisor.

The Secretary is
Lee Jackson. Lee is effectively the main groundsman for Manchester City FC
although I don’t think he actually has that title.

The other Officer
of the branch is Chris Pearson who works for Stockport Council and acts as the
representative on the NW regional IOG branch.

The following is a
very brief summary of the main points of the meeting –

Ian and Lee both
voiced their disappointment with the performance of the IOG NW regional
committee. As far as they were concerned Manchester is the only active branch within the
region and yet meetings continued to be held at Haydock and very little came
out of the regional committee. Chris is the acting chairman of that committee
and he promised to represent our views at their forthcoming AGM – to be held at
Haydock!

The IOG is
planning to reorganise its regional structure. Ian said that IOG management
were aware of the deficiencies of the NW committee.

The Manchester branch had organised 6 meetings through
the last year with average attendances of around 20.

Lee said that he
was hoping that Sven-Goran Ericsson would agree to take on the (honorary) role
of President of the branch in place of Stuart Pierce …. who has moved on…… Lee
reckons that Sven is a most charming bloke who might even attend a meeting.

The next meeting
is Weds 27/Feb at Middleton CC where Ian will talk about cricket square Spring
preparation – all welcome, don’t have to be in the IOG.